Typewriting machine



Aug. 4, 193.1.` J. PHELPS TYPEWRITING MACHINE Fiied April 19, 1927 ATTRNEY chines.

Patented Aug. 4, 1931 UNITED STATES JOSEPH PHELPS, OF NORTH CALDWELL,v NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T'O REMINGTON TYPE- v PATENT OFFICE WRITER COMPANY, OF ILION, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK TYPEWRITING MACHINE Application led April 19,

My invention relates to typewriting and like machines and more particularly to means for counting the strokes of the printing keys and space key. D

The invention isintended to' accomplish some of the same general results as the con- One of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved construction of the character described which may be readily applied as an attachment to Remington machines, models Nos. 12, 20, 21, 23, 30, and to other model Remington machines, without modifying, or materially modifying, the structural features of said machine as they now exist. l

To the above and other ends which will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the features of construction, arrangements of parts and combinations of devices set forth in the following description and particularly 4 pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference ycharacters indicate corresponding parts in the different views, Y

Figure 1 is a fragmentary, top plan view of the counter, together with the actuating connections and some of the associated parts of a No. 12 Remington typewriter common to a number of different models of such ma- Figure 2 is an enlarged, detail transverse, sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows at said line. i

Figure 3 is an enlarged.' detail. transverse, sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows at said line. i

Figure 4 is an enlarged, detail, fragmentary, fore-and-aft vertical sectional View 1927. serial No. 184,902.

taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrowsl at said line.

I have shown only so much of a No. `12 Remington typewriting machine asis necessary to arrive at an understanding of my invention in its embodiment therein.

While the parts of the typewriter shown f arecommon to several models of Remington machines, and the present lnvention may be readily incorporated therein without modifying, or materially modifying, the structural features thereof, it should be understood that the invention is not restricted to use in such machines but may be employed in typewritingV or like machines generally, wherever found available.

The usual power driven carriage, shown only in part in the drawings, includes end e bars 1 and a rear cross bar 2 grooved to receive anti-friction rollers which likewise are received in the grooved face 3 of a fixed guide rail 4 secured to the top plate 5 of the machine. A pull band 6 is connected at one end to the usual spring drum (not shown) and at the other end to a bracket arm 7 secured to the carriage. The carriage is advanced step-by-step in the direction of its letter feed movement, indicated by the arrow a in Fig. 1, by the power of the spring drum and under control of the usual escapement mechanism which will now be described.

A yoke-like supporting bracket 8 is detachably secured by screws 9 to a member 9a secured to the bottom of the top plate. This bracket has two arms 10 and 11, the arm 10 extending forward of the escapement wheel shaft 12 and having a bearing opening in which the forward reduced end 13 of the shaftis received. p The arm 11 of the bracket extends around to the rear of the escapement wheel shaft andhas an opening in which a bearing sleeve 14 is seated and held in place by a set screw 15. yThe rear reduced end 16 of the shaft 12 receives a bearing in the sleeve 14, n n escapement wheel carrier 17 is connected by its hub to turn with the shaft 1Q by two set screws 18, one of which is shown in Fig. 4. The annular escapenient wheel 19 is secured to its carrier 17 by three screws 20, two of which are shown in Fig. 3. So far as the present invention is concerned the connected parts 1T and 19 may be regarded as one piece, which may be called the escapement wheel. )i sleeve 21 loosely surrounds and receives a bearing on the shaft 12. One end of this sleeve is provided with a feed pinion Q2, whereas the opposite end of the sleeve is provided with a combined backing ratchet and bacl: spacing wheel Q3. This wheel is shaped to form a housing in which is received a backing pawl Q4 pivoted at 25 on the carrier 17 of the line spacing wheel. The engaging nose QG of this pawl co cts with t-he inner corners QT of the teeth QS of the wheel 23, being normally held in such engagement by a wire spring 29 anchored at one end on a pin 30 carried by the escapement wheel and bearing` at its opposite end in a depression in the pawl 24. The effect of this pawl and ratchet connection between the feed pinion 22 and the escapementwheel is to connect the two to turn together in one direction, and to permit the feed pinion Q2 to be rotated in an opposite direction independently of the escapement wheel, as will hereinafter more clearly appear.

A feed rack 31 is secured by screws 32 to a feed rack carrier Each of the rearwardly extending arms of the carrier is tapped to receive a screw 34 which at its outer reduced end is received in a bearing opening in a bracketarm 35 secured to the carriage. This provides a pivotal support for the raclr carrier to enable the rack 31 to be lifted to disengage its teeth 3G (see Fig. 4) from meshing engagement with the teeth of the feed pinion 22, at which time the carriage is free from control of its escapement mechanism and may be moved in either direction in its line of travel. To thus lift the feed rack the rear end of the usual key controlled release lever 37 extends beneath the feed rack, as indicated in Fig. 1.

The usual normally engaged loose dog 38 and the fixed holding dog 39 coact with t-he escapementwheel (see Fig. 4) to advance it one tooth at each actuation of a printing key or the space lrey, and thus enable the carriage to advance a letter space distance. The usual automatically controlled detent 40 is employed to prevent a backward rotation of the escapement wheel.

As thus far described the construction is such as that commonly employed in different models of Remington machines, and it is one of the purposes of the present invention to combine with certain of the parts described the countervand counter-controlling means of the present invention Without the necessity of modifying any of the structural features of these existing machines, as will now appear.

I provide ay supporting arm or member 41 bifurcated at its upper and lower ends and shaped to form a seat that will receive thc supporting sleeve 14, so that the latter may provide a support on the bracket S for the supporting member 41. The arms of the upper bifurcated end of the supporting member are connected by a screw l2 by which they may be drawn together to irmly ciamp said member to the sleeve 14. This supporting member' is located between the bracket arm 11 and the escapenient wheel and is held lxed while the escapement wheel turns relatively thereto, The lower bifurcated end of the supporting member 41 provides av slot in which a worm wheel 43 is received. Aligned transverse bearing openings extend through the supporting arms on opposite sides of the wheel 4? to provide a bearing for a short spindle 44 to which the wheel is connected. One end of this spindle is connected to a flexible shaft 45 which has its opposite end connected to the driving shaft of ar Veeder counter 46 which in the present instance registers one unit on the register wheels 47 of the counter for each complete revolution of the sl aft 45, although obviously this may be varied by the selection of a different Veeder counter which gives a different ratio. The fleible shaft enables the Veeder counter to be mounted in any convenient position and with the axis of its register wheels disposed in any desired angular relation relatively to the axis of the escapement wheel and the driving wheel 43. The flexibilityv of the shaft 45 also enables it to bend and compensate for the different heights at which the counter and worm wheel 43 are arranged. In the present instance the counter is riveted at 48 to a sheet metal base or bracket plate 49, which is secured to the top plate of the machine by screws and 51, the screw 50 being a` headed clamping screw, the stem of which passes through an opening in the plate 49 and clamps it in place. This is a screw which is substituted for that commonly employed to attach other parts to the bottom of the top plate of the machine, and performs such ordinary function in the present instance. The screw 51 is received in a cut-out in an edge of the plate 49 to prevent the plate and counter carried thereby from turning on the screw 50 as a pivot. The screw 51 is also one usually employed in the machine for another purpose and performs its usual function in the machine as well as the additional function pointed out above.

Motion is transmitted from the worm wheel 43 through the flexible shaft 45 to the counter, and the worm wheel is actuated by means carried directly by the escapement wheel 19 and coacting directly with the worm wheel. Such means in the present instance comprise a Worm device, which, as shown may conveniently be formed from a single piece of sheet metal and includes an annular base portion 53 secured to the rear side of the escapement wheel by the same screws 20 by which the escapement wheel is attached to its carrier 17. The annular base is arranged concentrically with the escapement wheel and at its outer edge has a. rearwardly proj ecting iiange 54 substantially cylindrical throughout most of its extent. The flange is split to provide an abrupt end 55 and an inwardly inclined, cam actuating device, or worm portion 56 which is severed from the base at 57, The flange 54 is received between the teeth of the worm wheel 43 and during the revolution of the escapement wheel the circular or cylindrical portion of the flange will travel idly through a space between two adjacent teeth of the wheel 43, thereby offering no resistance to the escapement wheel and the feed of the carriage. Vhen, however, the worm portion 56 of the flange reaches a tooth. of the worm Wheel, the worm will canse said wheel to be gradually advanced by an-easy camming motion a tooth space distance of the worm wheel. This occurs at each complete revolution of the escapement wheel. There are, in the present instance, sixteen teeth on the worm wheel 43, and fifteen teeth on the escapement wheel. Therefore, it will require sixteen revolutions of the escapement wheel to advance the wheel 43 one turn and to set up one unit on the connter. This requires two hundred and forty strokes on the printing keys or the space key, since the escapement wheel can be advanced only under control of the feed dogs 38 and 39 and these are controlled only by the printing keys and the space key. This represents, say, between four and five lines of writing with pica type in an A carriage machine, but lines are not the unit registered, but the actual work strokes on the keys, two hundred and forty such strokes being the unit of registration employed in the present instance, and which. forms the basis by which payment is made to the operator for piece work or bonus. Obviously, however, the intermediate connections between the escapement wheel and counter may be varied at will to cause a registration on the counter once for a greater or less number of key strokes than is indicated above, but such number is preferred as it is regarded as standard.

It will be understood that the power of the usual spring drum moves the carriage and transmits motion to the escapement wheel and to the counter controlled thereby, so that none of the resistance due to actuating the counteris exerted against the operator in actuating the keys. It will be seen, moreover, that the resistance to be overcome in actuating the worm wheel 43 and the parts controlled thereby to operate the counter is but slight, adding but little resistance to the spring drum which may be. easily and efilectively employed to vactuate the counter.

Such slight drag as maybe exerted against.

the drum. is but momentary in the ypresent construction and is only exerted during the chines hereinbefore referred to, not only does the yoke-like bracket arm 1l extend in the rear ofthe escapement wheel and shaft, but the tabulator frame containing some live or more upright tabulator levers are also arranged directly in the rear of the escapement wheel and its shaft in certain of the models referred to. It will be seen therefore, that there is no room at such point to make connection with means for transmittiner motion from the escapement wheel shaffJ to the counter as in the construction disclosed in the Yaw patent hereinbefore referred to. However, by my invention the counter and its actuating mechanism may be readily connected as a single unit, and in the nature of an attachment, to any of such machines without modifying the structural features as they now exist.

The present construction has all of the additional advantages of the Yaw construction in that the register cannot be fraudulently run up by the operator as many other of the counters of the prior art can be. Thus, it will be seen that by the present invention the counter can only be actuated by the finger strokes on the keys, and that it would require as much work to run up the register without writing as would be required to produce a corresponding amount of work or written matter.

The construction of the present invention consists of but few parts, which may be readily assembled withont requiring a nice fitting. The construction is inexpensive to manufacture, easy to attach, is not liable to be damaged or broken and is highly efficient in use.

Various changes may be made in the construction, and parts thereof may be employed without others, without departing from my invention as it is defined in the accompanying claim.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a. typewriting machine the combination with a carriage escapement wheel which turns only in one direction and only when the carriage is fed by the keys, and a support for the shaft of said wheel comprising a fixed sleeve in which said shaft is journaled, of a worm turning with said escapement wheel, a worm wheel operated by said worm, a support for said worm wheel consisting of a bracket having :1. hole which ts on said ixed sleeve by which sleeve said bracket is supported and to which it is clamped, a counter attached to the xed frame-work of the ma chine at an angle inclined to the axis of said worm wheel, and u fiexible shaft extending from said worm wheel to said counter and operating the latter.

Signed at the borough of Manhattan, city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York this 18th day of April, A. D. 1927.

JOSEPH PHELPS. 

